Just to add my 2c. This is a Windows town. Windows in general is pretty dominant in North America in general, but in my experience Calgary this is even more so. The only companies that I know of with significant Linux infrastructure are Enmax and iStockPhoto. Every oil and gas company that I know of uses Windows. If I limited myself by saying that I don't touch Windows I too would be out of work. Even so I contemplated a career change as the past two years have been brutal.
I would also say that the languages that you mentioned are pretty much unknown in these parts. You are the only person I know locally who has smalltalk and seaside experience. That does not bode well for job hunting. Most of the web developers that I work with predominantly use C#/dotnet, with a minority in the PHP crowd. There is also a Ruby on Rails company in town (I can't say that I have been happy with their work though). There is a lot of Java still kicking about as well. In my opinion, if you want to work in Calgary, you will likely need to make some compromises, particularly in the Windows or Seaside only area. Hth, On Fri, Feb 11, 2011 at 10:22 AM, Shawn <[email protected]> wrote: > On 11-02-11 12:02 AM, TekBudda wrote: >>> >>> Sorry, I don't do Windows and I only do web development if it is using >>> Seaside. >> >> Biot to offend Ralph but you have to realize that Windows is the >> dominant platform out there whether we like it or not & if you want to >> work in IT, that may be the bullet you have to bite. > > I had a similar thought when I read the "I don't do Windows" and the caveat > on web development. That eliminates 98% of the people who would be hiring. > So, you are either looking for a very very specific niche type job, or you > may have inadvertently limited yourself. > >> That being said I will let you know if I come across anything. Have you >> thought of trying to start your own business or something? > > I echo the start your own business idea, but with caution. Starting a > business is easy. Finding that first customer isn't. Finding long term > customers is even harder. (in this case customers = income). You still have > to pay the bills when the business is starting out. And it may take as long > as 3 to 5 years for a business to really get underway (credibility/trust, > word of mouth, growth, etc.). > > There are a few of us in CLUG that run our own businesses, so discussions > and opinions are just a question away. > > Regarding your wage comment - for $10/hour, go pump gas or some other "low > level" job. Use that to cover expenses while you hunt for a more pertinent > job or expand skillsets (you should never stop expanding your knowledge in > the IT field). > > Lastly, in our industry a *lot* of people get hired because of who they > know. In otherwords there are more opportunities available to you if you > know more people who actually work in the areas you are interested in. > Networking is key (IMO). Find where these people hang out then go there > and start making friends. :) > > Sorry I couldn't be more help. > > Shawn > > _______________________________________________ > clug-talk mailing list > [email protected] > http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca > Mailing List Guidelines (http://clug.ca/ml_guidelines.php) > **Please remove these lines when replying > _______________________________________________ clug-talk mailing list [email protected] http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca Mailing List Guidelines (http://clug.ca/ml_guidelines.php) **Please remove these lines when replying
